News
Local

With each new cabinet minister brought forward in Monday’s shuffle came a 140-character announcement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The cabinet shuffle saw the Prime Minister's Office take to Twitter, under the handle @pmharper, to announce the new roles of each minister as they arrived at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

The social media event, which lasted about two hours, saw the hashtag #shuffle13 trending nationwide. It was the first year the PMO used social media in a cabinet shuffle.

But Vincent Mosco, a Queen’s University sociology professor who studies social media, doesn’t think it will make much a difference for the PMO’s future.

“I don’t know that it has very much effect on people’s perception (of government),” he said. “This was essentially a list of names and tweets … that’s generally, among people who look at social media, to be quite passé if anything.”

The shuffle featured younger members and the addition of four women, previously on the backbench.

“These changes to the ministry feature both younger members of Parliament ready for new opportunities, and steady hands that will continue to deliver strong leadership in key portfolios,” Harper said in a statement.

“To a degree what Harper’s been told is his government needs to get younger, his cabinet needs to get younger, and it needs to look more diverse,” Mosco said.

He said Harper’s shift to Twitter is a response to President Barack Obama’s recent successes on social media.

“Barack Obama certainly pioneered the use of Twitter and Facebook and social media generally,” Mosco said. “And after five years of the government down south we expect government to do this.”

The PMO’s presence on Twitter echoes this, he said.

“(Harper’s) image consultants told him that he needs to appear more younger and more modern,” Mosco said.

However, there are bigger issues for Harper to worry about.

“What matters most in this regard is that he faces the threat of a very young Liberal leader who represents, in some respects, a different generation, a younger generation,” Mosco said.

Justin Trudeau’s presence on the playing field has likely led to the PMO using social media, he said.

“Harper, I think, is being told, well you just need to make use of what are identified as the tools of the younger generation,” Mosco said.

However, social media might not be of much help in the grander scheme of things.

“It will likely help the party’s image in the short run, but in the longer run what will matter much more is the outcome of the investigations into the government’s alleged scandals and the state of the economy,” Mosco said. “There are bigger issues that Canadians look to in making decisions.”

When a government decides to join Twitter, it’s a calculated risk.

“This has been demonstrated time and time again where people send out tweets they regret sending,” Mosco said.

He said social media’s speed can be problematic since there’s a certain loss of control.

“One of the reasons why this government has been slow to use social media is because it’s one that places a lot of interest in controlling the message,” Mosco said. “They’re more likely to use it but they also face greater risk when they do.”